If connectivity implementation is any indication of airline health, one might think the carriers are swimming in money. This logic could not be further from the truth! of the 20 airlines reporting last quarter revenues last week, all 20 reported revenue reductions from the same quarter the year previous – the drop averaged almost 16%. This is an astounding number considering all the airlines that are stepping up to connectivity. The chart shown here (compliments of OnAir) points out that airborne connectivity is a worldwide trend and one can only assume that onboard hardware costs are only a necessary evil in the attempt to garner additional revenue….and revenue is the problem. As one guru told us, “…I suspect that companies and individual travelers are not only traveling less but, when they do travel, are riding it out in coach instead of business/first class.” This means lower revenue and thus solving the problem by cutting back is not the only answer. It means that adopting a “pay for play” policy is going to be the mantra going forward. While this trend has been alive and growing within airlines for the last year, amenities such as Internet, voice and data calls, and the like will be tolerated, no promoted to the passengers if they are willing to pay for it on existing aircraft. The adoption decisions of IFE and connectivity hardware may be another matter.
Inflight Entertainment, as such, is also under pressure. Not only are the big systems a threat to fuel burn and install costs, there are a number of press stories out this week on the adoption of a mobile entertainment and information life style that favors data and iPod integration with the seatback. More than one attendee at the recent WAEA Single Focus Workshop had a laptop, a Blackberry and a iPhone in front of them as they listened to the various speakers (we have the pictures to prove it). The connected lifestyle on planes may have a few less entertainment components but the business folks want to use their laptop (for hours) and want to check email the whole trip. If many could talk, they would do that as well.
The bottom line – Winners will be paid services like Internet, calling and data providers, on-plane advertisers, connectivity hardware providers, and in-seat power manufacturers The losers might be IFE, seating, and pretty much anything that cannot be purchased on a plane. And yes, if airlines see a bucket of money in voice calling, watch for the US H.R. 915, Section 425 (“Hang-up Act”) to fade into the background noise.
Dear Readers… Just when we thought we had heard just about everything about connectivity and were sure the “Big Dogs” has everything sewed up, along comes a new and refreshing solution to getting bandwidth to the plane. Yes, it is ground-based and it is simplicity itself, but the idea is one that resonated with us because it is so cool and clever. On the ground (100 stations needed), Wi-Sky has developed an electrically steered beam forming antenna that delivers approximately 45 Mbps to each and every plane in its tracked sector – it has a beamwidth of some 4° horizontal degrees. On the aircraft, another novel approach ties multiple sectored antennas together to cover the needed 360 degrees under the airplane. The signals are delivered inside the cabin via standard Wi-Fi WAP’s and with 13 channel allotments of in the band, can easily deliver a planes worth of bandwidth in one channel. The interesting part about the technology is the frequency band – unlicensed IEEE 802.11b/g and n in the 2.4 GHz band, while power levels run at an amazingly low 1 watt! Even at these low power levels, beam shaping and high gain antennas delivered (in tests) bandwidth in the 20 to 50 Mbps range. At that rate, everybody can watch YouTube (See tests below or on YouTube).
Necessarily closed mouthed, President and CEO, Grant Sharp talked to IFExpress about their testing and aspirations but there is wealth of information on their website. One thing for sure is that the shipset chipset costs of their hardware, and ground equipment for that matter, will be quite competitive with any other gear. Think about it, at Wi-Fi frequencies a lot of COTS hardware will fit the bill and with no up front frequency allocation charges, their costs will be reasonable. OK, as reasonable as avionics can get. You can meet Grant at the WAEA TC meeting in July in Everett WA. (See last weeks Hot Topic). Be sure to look up their website www.wi-skyllc.com and check out the pedigrees of the top team and if you are not conversant with ODFM, you might try the Wikipedia link too.
The Tests: Grant wrote us, “The attached video is a screen capture of an Internet Performance test (iperf) which transfers bulk data packets from our radio on the ground to the radio in the plane. At one-second intervals, the report displays how much data was actually transferred. It also calculates the data rate transfer each second. You will see that we are transferring data at a rate between 35 Mbps and 45 Mbps. In the background on the screen is Microsoft MapPoint with GPS tracking the path of the plane. Our base station radio is located in Mountain View, CA. The red arrow on the screen indicates the location of the plane. You can see that we are close to Interstate-5, which in that instance is 54 miles from our base station. The upper left corner of the screen shows the speed of the aircraft, altitude, time, longitude and latitude. During our test flight last Tuesday, airline representatives plugged in multiple computers and simultaneously made Skype video calls, previewed iTunes online, viewed a web cam of their kitchen back home, played numerous YouTube videos, downloaded an 8.8 Megabyte email attachment in a few seconds, viewed smooth-flowing video preview trailers and logged onto their VPN at their office. These tasks are simply not possible with the current slow DSL link that the airlines are offering today”
- Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi for more Wi-Fi info.
- Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Kw1qsqPRY
- Screen Shot of inflight test results (PDF)
With today’s tragic news about Air France 447, the subject of aircraft connectivity takes on a new and urgent meaning for the aviation industry. Given that the last contact with the Airbus A330 was via automatic condition monitors, connectivity now has dual interest – aircraft and passenger.
The upcoming WAEA Single Focus Workshop, Tuesday, July 14 – Wednesday, July 15 2009 in Everett, Washington, USA has the passenger focus, and the WAEA noted in their communication; “This special two-day educational event will feature keynote and breakout sessions covering the very basics of connectivity to the advanced levels of this dynamic and ever changing subject in the Inflight Entertainment and Connectivity. Individuals from all aspects of the IFE&C industry, as well as experts in engineering, technology and forecasting will be in attendance and attendees will have time to mingle with colleagues from around the world at the networking events.” From an entertainment perspective, this will be your chance to look into the technologies and business practices that In-Stat predicts will be a $12 Billion dollar business by 2012! Check out some of these topics like “Service Enhancement and Ancillary Revenue”…this one should be very interesting! Here is the topic list at this time:
- Airline Trials
- Clear up the misconceptions of connectivity
- Systems, technology and capability offerings
- Onboard access and distribution
- Connectivity from the Airframers’ perspective
- Ground-based trends and it’s affect on other systems
- Applications and Content
- Service enhancement or ancillary revenue discussions
- Regulatory and industry activities
- In-flight TV
You can get more information at the WAEA website and please note, WAEA Members and non-members alike are invited to attend. We talked to one WAEA contact and were told, “Yes, I think one of the sessions that is going to be a highlight is the morning of the first day and it’s entitled “Who’s Doing What?” – we will have a lot of airlines giving reports of their trials, sharing lessons learned, and what they are planning next – it’ll be a great sharing and learning session for everyone on everything that’s hot in Connectivity.” See you there.
Friday, March 20, 2009 – Cutting-edge communications for Emirates passengers reached a new milestone today with the first birthday of its world-beating in-flight mobile service with AeroMobile.
History was made a year ago today when the first authorised call on a commercial flight was made on flight EK751, flying from Dubai to Casablanca on March 20th 2008.
Since then, 160,170 passengers have switched on their mobile phone on an Emirates flight to take advantage of the ability to make and receive calls and text messages – more than 50,000 in the last three months alone as the service becomes more widely available and increasingly popular.
The AeroMobile system, which allows passengers to safely make and receive calls during flights, has now been fitted on a total of 32 Emirates aircraft, making it available on one-in-four of Emirates’ services. Emirates Engineering are installing the AeroMobile system on the rest of the fleet, with one aircraft being equipped every ten days or so.
Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Vice President, Passenger Communications and Visual Services, said: “Using this innovative service has now become second nature to our passengers who love the convenience of being able to stay in touch when they choose to.
“It has proved as popular with passengers on all flights to all destinations, not just businessmen and women but also leisure travellers. It’s ideal for just wanting to call home or make contact with family on birthdays or anniversaries.
“Typically about a third of our passengers are switching on their phones onboard AeroMobile-equipped aircraft, so it’s clearly a popular service. We do see many though, that switch on their phone but don’t necessarily use it, showing that they like the idea of being contactable. It’s clear that passengers prefer using their own phone which they are familiar with, rather than the seatback phone.
“The early concerns about potential impact on other passengers have proved, as expected, to be unfounded. We very rarely see multiple calls at the same time, and most calls are shorter than a couple of minutes. Texting using sms has been very popular. The feedback from our customers has been full of enthusiasm.”
The AeroMobile service is being rolled out across the Emirates fleet and is currently operating on five aircraft types, the Boeing 777-200s and 777-300s, plus the Airbus A340-300, A340-500 and A330-200. It is due to be installed on the Boeing 777-300ER from May.
AeroMobile CEO Bjorn-Taale Sandberg said: “With our service firmly established on an increasing number of Emirates’ aircraft, the usage level amongst passengers has increased at a faster pace.
“We’re particularly proud of the quality of the voice service and overall reliability. The comment we most often hear is that people receiving calls from our customers in-flight can’t believe they are calling from 35,000 feet.
“We are looking forward to more growth and rising user numbers throughout 2009 to cement a great first year.”
About AeroMobile
AeroMobile Limited is a UK-based company owned by Telenor ASA and Arinc. It has been pursuing the objective of allowing the safe use of passengers own mobile phones and PDAs since 2003 in response to market demands.
In September 2008, AeroMobile won the “Best Achievement in Technology 2008” award from the World Airline Entertainment Association (WAEA).
Prior to the launch of the Emirates service, mobile phone use in aircraft has only been allowed in limited, short-term trials which did not support voice calls.
AeroMobile is the first in-flight mobile technology to be commercially available and first flew in June 2005 on Boeing’s 777-200LR ‘Worldliner’ demonstrator aircraft. In April 2007, AeroMobile implemented a trial service on domestic flights within Australia. This evaluation project, supporting GSM text messaging and GPRS data services, continued until January 2008 having operated on over 1,000 flights.
AeroMobile is teamed with Panasonic Avionics Corporation, the Panasonic’s market-leading in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems provider, to offer the AeroMobile aircraft technology under the eXPhone brand as an integral part of Panasonic’s IFE systems. The AeroMobile system uses the existing Inmarsat satellite communications systems installed on all Emirates aircraft. These systems will be upgraded at the earliest opportunity to Inmarsat’s latest SwiftBroadband service providing further features and capabilities such as GPRS mobile data services.
More information may be found at www.aeromobile.net
ViaSat and Satcom Direct team-up to provide ViaSat YonderSM Mobile Broadband Service to business aviation customers, offering high-speed connectivity during flight
Carlsbad, CA – ViaSat Inc. has appointed Satcom Direct as a value-added reseller and customer support liaison for its new YonderSM Mobile Broadband Service, offering data and voice communication services for corporate, business, and military aircraft. Yonder Mobile Broadband Service offers passengers the ability to conduct normal business operations easily while in flight with office IP network applications and services, and also delivers entertainment options normally limited to home theater.
The ViaSat airborne broadband communication network enables a quality experience for aircraft passengers during flight, which will be enhanced when combined with high-end customer support provided by Satcom Direct.
“The user experience of a service such as Yonder is only as good as the quality of customer service that goes along with it,” said Don Buchman, ViaSat director of Mobile Broadband. “The reliability and extensive service experience that Satcom Direct can offer to Yonder customers adds a lot of value to our service.”
The Yonder Mobile Broadband Service uses patented ViaSat ArcLight® mobile satellite technology, which enables use of a 12-inch, lightweight antenna, offering aircraft data download speeds of up to 10 Mbps and uploads of up to 512 kbps. Passengers can send and receive broadband data, connect to a virtual private network, and access video programming using portable devices or onboard TVs.
“Satcom Direct is the industry leader in delivering unparalleled technology and customer support to the business and military aviation industries,” said James Jensen, CEO of Satcom Direct. “ViaSat Yonder service allows us to expand our satellite-based service offering to our customers with the integrity and recognition of the ViaSat name. Our focus at Satcom Direct of delivering quality, leading-edge products and services ensures our customers can rely on just one company for all of their aircraft flight deck and cabin communication services.”
ViaSat enables service over North America, the North Pacific, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, Europe, and the Persian Gulf. The network is continuing to expand through the cooperation of ViaSat and maritime broadband service-provider KVH Industries, with the goal of providing worldwide coverage by early 2010.
About Satcom Direct
Founded in 1997, Satcom Direct is the leading innovator of satellite voice, fax, and broadband data service solutions for business and general aviation, military, government, emergency response, media, and other industries that demand reliable global communications. Its primary product, Global One Number®, is an advanced connection service for aeronautical, maritime, and land mobile applications that makes satellite communications as reliable and simple to use as ground-based telephones. For more information regarding Satcom Direct, visit www.satcomdirect.com , e-mail sales@satcomdirect.com, or call +1.321.777.3000.
Without much fanfare last month, Row44 and Alaska Airlines repeated connectivity history with hopes of changing your flight experience. They installed an external antenna, a satcom receiver/transmitter, and a couple of Wireless Access points (see image) and started flying their airborne Internet in an operational trial in a B737. Of course, the event we are talking about is the first US commercial airline install of some five years of work for the small California company know as Row44. Alaska Airlines saw the potential of airborne connectivity so we sought out Chase Craig who manages program development and market research for Alaska and he told IFExpress about the two week old project. The system is functioning in a low visibility mode trial prior to any go-ahead and formal project kickoff. For you bloggers and IFE junkies the operational B737 is t/n 644 and the plane is flying as-needed route applications within the Alaska system, rather than on dedicated route legs. We understand that the system is operating properly and that crews announce that fact to passengers. Alaska in accumulating operational and usage data in the process and will do so for some time.
We asked Mr. Craig about eventual pricing and he told IFExpress, “We think the existing airborne Internet pricing model is a too high and we are presently looking at a pricing model that is lower”. IFExpress thinks that the price will be in the region of $9.99 per day based on factors like the economy, not to mention that they are flying in competition with another product with a$13 price point. What would you charge? We asked about system use: “Log on is easy”, said Chase, “We went to lengths to make our Terms of Use easy and straightforward. We don’t want to act as traffic cop to travelers who are Internet savvy but we wanted to clearly set out that Alaska desires to avoid public display of inappropriate content. “In that case, we will deny service”, he noted.
The system is capable of up to 30 Mbps but is presently throttled as a result of 802.11 B/G speeds. This should present no issues to multiple users, besides; we note that the system is scalable. Chase told us that he has used the system and is very pleased with its ease of use… not to mention the ease on fuel burn based on a system weight of less than 200 pounds. Operating at Ku Band stationary satellites, the Row44 hardware does not require a network of ground-based antennas. Not only is this a promising solution for undeveloped areas, but the obvious thought is an eventual over water solution. When the trial is complete and if Alaska chooses to equip their fleet, expect some 100 to 110 airplanes to be equipped with the Row44 hardware. We suppose that this is a good point to mention that other, bigger companies have tried and failed to deliver a satisfactory satcom-based, Ku band, airborne Internet solution. We acknowledge the Row44 accomplishment! Jolly good show!
Needless to say, the latest Wi-Fi lawsuit targeting Delta and AirCell was not lost on Alaska, “We are watching it with interest”, said Craig. We are too – Stay Tuned!
Here is a YouTube link for a short preview of the Row44/Alaska Airline Wi-Fi system in operation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Rvl5YJG-I
When connectivity becomes ubiquitous aboard commercial flights— and we’ll be there sooner than you think — the productivity unleashed will be extraordinary. Hundreds of millions of educated passengers, captive in an airplane for billions of hours a year, will be able to work, play, create and connect to their world on the ground.”
